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Like many European twenty-somethings looking for work, Carmen faced a decision: a secure job with an immediate payoff, or delayed gratification with further training with hopes for a better job. In her hometown in western Romania, the main industry is an automotive parts factory, the Delphi Packard Corporation, which employs thousands from the town and surrounding areas. Carmen Pragai had to decide whether to pursue work on the factory floor or in the office support department. Line work is “hard, manual labor” Carmen explains. Plus, the difference in pay is like night and day – where the sun shines on those with e-skills.
Knowing her limitations and opportunities, Carmen enrolled in an intensive ICT training program offered by a local NGO in her hometown of Sannicolau Mare. Supported by a national network of telecenters under the guidance of EOS – Educating for an Open Society – the local, job-focused ICT training program kept Carmen in classes for five months. When she completed the eight training modules, she applied to Delphi and was hired by the factory’s office support department as a quality control professional.
Feeding economic growth
Sannicolau Mare has been both blessed and challenged by the economic prosperity of the past few years. New factory and service jobs have multiplied; an accompanying challenge is a shortage of skilled workers. Addressing this labor imbalance is important for the Delphi factory to demonstrate to investors that it is workable and profitable, feeding future expansion and support. The labor shortage is particularly acute because other, smaller growing businesses in the Sannicolau community also need workers with ICT fluency.
To meet the needs of industry and up-skill the current workforce, the local EOS partner has developed a network of ICT training programs that target different audiences. These computer classrooms are spread across the local learning community: a small lab in a kindergarten, a large lab at the local high school, another large lab in a neighboring school serving Roma youth, and a fourth lab in the main telecentre office.
Carmen studied in the main Sannicolau telecentre. Five months of coursework were spread out over most of a year, covering Microsoft Word and Excel, as well as the more advanced database skills needed for programs like Access. Carmen was fortunate to have the good graces of her parents who paid her tuition and enabled her to dedicate her time to learning. But with the support of EOS, and its grant of Microsoft Unlimited Potential Community Learning curriculum, the training programs are also affordable for others. Carmen’s investment paid off, and she is now earning nearly twice what she would have made on the Delphi factory floor, and she has health insurance, a pension, eligibility for higher bonuses, and the possibility of promotion.
The benefits are not only for Carmen, but for Delphi too. An Austria-based firm, the automotive parts factory is one of two in the region oper